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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Graham cracker "crust", Hershey's chocolate, chocolate marshmallow cake, toasted marshmallow frosting... these cupcakes are the cake version of everyone's favorite campfire treat. They are fun to make and although it sounds like a lot of steps, each step is fairly simple. The "toasted" marshmallow can be achieved with a kitchen torch which is always fun to use and makes for an impressive presentation.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In food processor, pulse graham crackers until they are fine crumbs. Add sugar and melted butter and mix until well combined. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of crumbs to the bottom of each liner. Use a small circle object (I used a shot glass) to press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of each liner. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from the oven. Divide the chopped chocolate evenly among the cupcakes. Add approximately 4 marshmallows to each tin.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in your mixing bowl. In a small bowl, add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and whisk together. Add to dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add boiling water and beat on low until just combined.

Spoon batter evenly into cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. The marshmallows will float to the top but that's okay. Bake approximately 18 - 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a clean stainless steel mixing bowl or double boiler, combine egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar. Whisk frequently, heating the mixture over medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 160 degrees. Transfer egg mixture to stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Begin mixing at low speed, gradually increasing to medium-high speed as the mixture becomes thicker. Beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add in the vanilla and mix until just combined. Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and frost as desired.

Using a kitchen torch held about 6 inches away from the cupcakes on a non-flammable surface, brown the cupcakes lightly as desired. Keep the torch moving so you don't catch any spot on fire. Just like toasting marshmallows by a campfire, slow and steady is a better approach than sticking the marshmallow to close to the fire, you're going for lightly toasted frosting not black and bubbly marshmallow. Garnish with chocolate bar segments.

I'm so excited about these! I have been looking for a good smores cupcake forever - there are so many out there that all seem the same (chocolate cupcake, marshmallow on top with a piece or drizzle of chocolate and graham cracker stuck in the top...boring!) I am making these tonight!

So yummy! Today my son was begging for s'mores, so I said ok. Then he changed his mind and wanted s'mores cupcakes. I googled and found your recipe. We made them (he was a good helper with counting out the marshmallows and crushing the graham cracker crumbs) and are totally addicted now. Thanks so much for sharing! I just wish I knew how to decorate them as beautifully as you did (I'm not a baker by any means).

Carrie - So glad you liked them! As for the decorating, a piping bag and star tip are all you need for the swirl but the kitchen torch definitely makes toasting the marshmallow frosting a whole lot easier. The taste is what counts though!

We are having a campout tonight and I didn't have chocolate bars or large marshmallows for s'mores. Found this recipe and went with it. Awesome!!! I was a little worried because the batter was very liquidy, but they turned out great. I put little marshmallows on top and broiled in the oven for a few minutes. Thanks for the fantastic recipe. You saved the campout!!

@Holmes - You can use skim milk, the cake won't be quite as rich because of the lower fat content but it will work. If you have any half and half or heavy cream on hand, I've substituted 1 cup skim milk less 2 T and add in 2 T of cream or half and half.

Thanks Jen! They were a hit! Didn't want to buy whole milk for one cup so followed your suggestion and added light cream to skim milk. The only problem I had was not being to properly refill my butane torch! Managed to toast the tops using my gas cooktop...

Yummy! I just made half a batch as a test run before my son's 1st birthday on the 15th. Everything was delicious! I need to get a better tip and a torch to really make the icing look its best. Thanks for the great recipe!

Do you mean just the chocolate cake or do you want to put the graham cracker crust on the bottom of it too? You can definitely use the cake recipe, I've done that often. I'm not if the graham cracker crust would work though - it may burn due to the longer baking time required for a cake over cupcakes but I've never tried it. The frosting will be fine.

@Susan - I'm not sure about marshmallow cream - it might work but it might be difficult to get it to a consistency suitable for piping. If you try it, let me know how it works out.

@Sabrina - I'm sorry, I'm not sure what happened, but my guess would be that you filled the tins too full. Another thing to check would be to see if your baking soda and powder are fresh, if the cupcakes didnt rise like they should then they could have gone over the edges but these don't rise all that much.

Hi Jen, I've never made the frosting with a torch. Since the egg whites are uncooked, I'm concerned, if you use a torch, it can't touch all the surfaces, as it will be burned by then? Will some of the frosting be uncooked then?

I MADE THESE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO FOR A DINNER PARTY. THEY WERE A HIT. GOING TO MAKE THEM AGAIN FOR MY NIECE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY. I CUT THE BOILING WATER BY A 1/2 CUP. THE BATTER WAS BEGINNING TO LOOK REALLY RUNNY AND THEY TURNED OUT FINE. I BOUGHT A TORCH FROM A HARDWARE STORE. KITCHEN TORCHES ARE MORE EXPENSIVE AND THEY DON'T WORK AS WELL

THESE ARE THE MOST AMAZING CUPCAKES EVER!!! I RECENTLY LOST IT AND SPENT AN HOUR SEARCHING THE INTERNET FOR IT AGAIN. NOTHING COMPARES. AS FOR THE TORCH, I DON'T OWN ONE. INSTEAD, I BROIL THE CUPCAKES FOR JUST A COUPLE OF SECONDS AND IT WORKS JUST FINE!!

It won't be really easy to tell, there isn't a trademark characteristic really. It will thicken and such but with raw egg whites, I would want to be careful and make sure I hit the 160 degrees just to ensure its safe.

So I have to come up with a item for my cooking class final, and it has to be made in 1hr 30min. and cost $4 or less, how long does this take to make on average? and can I cut the recipe in half to reduce costs? cant wait to try these!

Well I can make these in less than an hour and half but you'll definitely want to practice or the steps will take you longer than that, you'll also need a refrigerator/freezer to cool the cupcakes faster or they will be too warm to ice. As for cost, is the $4 prorated based on the portion of ingredients you use or the total cost because there are a lot of components to this one so you would easily be over $4 if you had to buy the full quantity of everything.

Well im going to at least cut it in half to reduce costs, would cutting it down even further mess with the chemistry of the cupcake? My teacher would like the smallest portion possible to make. I can also experiment at home and see what happens

Cutting it any lower than 1/2 would be harder just because it's difficult to use 1/2 an egg but it can be done if you use careful measurements, as long as you reduce everything by the same fraction, the cake will turn out just fine.

Is the frosting a meringue? I don't really like meringue... But I do love marshmallows! I'm nervous to try it. I know you mentioned that its best day of, as it hardens a bit later; does that mean day of it will be soft like typical frosting? These do look amazing though!

Thanks! You were right, just like marshmallows. Definitely not meringue. :) However, I couldn't get it to thicken up at all. It tastes great, but its so runny. Any ideas what happened? I'd like to make these again, they're so delicious; but I'd like them to be more presentable!

Made these and they are incredible! The cake batter was very runny and looked highly suspicious at first, but it turned out good. There was a lot of extra batter and frosting. Ultimately, the marshmallows and the crushed chocolate above the graham crakers could probably be omitted. I couldn't taste them in the end and the marshmallows caused the tops of the cupcakes to appear volcanic and lumpy. For the graham craker crust, we ended up using one and a half packages to get the required amount of crushed graham crakers, and we used a blender because we didin't have a food procesor. It worked wonderfully! We will definately be making these again.

Thank you for this cozy cupcake recipe. I'm always baking and a friend has ask me to make campfire cupcakes for her son's 13th b-day party which is this Saturday. After googling for the perfect recipe, I've found your's to be the most creative and after reading your reviews, I just know they will be delicious.

They look so good, I have to try this recipe! But I have one question; I'm from Norway and we use other measurements than in the US, so can you please tell me what the "T" stands for? In 2 cups plus 2 T sugar.Thank you for helping, I look forward to reading all your other recipes :-)

Hi Jen, I want to make these for my daughter's baby shower. I have one question...I want to use the marshmallow frosting and then cover with Graham cracker crumbs. Top with chocolate shell. Beach baby theme. Is the frosting safe to eat with the raw egg whites. There will be a number of small children at the party. Thanks. Beth

Beth, I think the frosting is perfectly safe however, if you don't feel comfortable, you can also use a pasteurized egg white product or meringue powder in place of the egg whites. I'm not sure of the conversion but that would be an option. Your shower sounds cute! Best of luck!

I made these today for my friend's "camping" themed baby shower. They were a huge hit, everyone loved them. I torched mini marshmallows on top of chocolate frosting in place of the meringue frosting. I followed your directions for one T Graham crust, but it was not nearly the same look as your picture shows. Next time I will use two or three T. Thanks for a successful recipe!!